"Wrapped"

Co-written by Walt Wilkins and Pat Green, I love both versions, but prefer Walt’s, it’s just a little more subtle, you hear the despair and the desire.

In a perfect world, this would be on every cruise ship playlist, every yacht iPod, everywhere Jimmy Buffett rules. People have no idea the music they’ll like, because they’ve never heard it.

"Wrapped" chugs forward like a freight train, you nod your head, you’re in the groove, you’re loving life during every second it plays.

Although the vocal puts Walt’s version over the top, Pat’s take is all about the picking.

This music alone makes the case for Texas… Ha!

"Love Will Stone You"

I’ve been waiting for the right moment to do a tribute to Emitt Rhodes.

But having not been able to get into the proper mood, I’m gonna turn you on to this, from "Mirror", the not as well-received follow-up to the solo debut.

On "Mirror", Emitt distances himself from Paul McCartney and becomes his own man.

And this is my favorite cut from the album.

Come on, that’s why we listen to music, for the TRUTH!

Love WILL stone you, but you WILL come down!

If you’re unfamiliar with Emitt’s work, search on Spotify and check it out. If the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame truly were, Emitt would be in it.

"Used To Get High"
John Butler Trio

It’s a different trio these days, and I haven’t seen the new edition, but this was always the highlight of the shows by the old set. This recorded take is a pale representation of the live rendition. It was like lighting a match, dropping a bucket of ants on every patron, as soon as the band hit the riff you couldn’t help but jump up and dance.

"I Won’t Hold You Back"
Toto

Written and sung by my buddy Steve Lukather…we met because I wrote how much I liked "Make Believe" and wasn’t completely complimentary about the lyrics and he felt I was dissing him and his band. Little did he know that I’m never 100% positive!

And "Make Believe" is on this same album, "Toto IV", the one that won all those Grammys, with "Africa" and "Rosanna"…who knew the song would outlast the actress!

This was a power ballad before they became ubiquitous on MTV, played by guys in long hair and tights, giving the whole concept a bad name.

With backup vocals by Timothy B. Schmit, soaring, anthemic strings and stinging guitar, "I Won’t Hold You Back" starts out quiet and intimate and builds, expressing the emotion we feel in the tumult of a relationship.

Don’t be too proud, too hip to acknowledge and revel in the work of prodigious talent.

And since you guys never talk about your problems, you just endure your pain independently, consider this my gift to you. Since you’re too macho to call a friend and cry, to express how bad you feel since you and she broke up, just put on this record and revel in your misery…it’ll make you feel a bit better.

From: Steve Lukather
Subject: Re:Rhinofy-More Random

Hey Bob,

Thanks man. That was sweet of you. Means a lot really. That song always meant a great deal to me.

By the way, those strings were real and it was the London Symphony orchestra and our old friend James Newton Howard arranged and conducted at Abbey Road London.

You wont see THIS on a recording budget anymore. lol

We went full on for that album.

It was a fun time in my life. I was 24 and on our 4th record. Damn.. where did the time go?

Yer pal

Luke

"Simple Man"
Bad Company

I am just a simple man, trying to be me

And so many don’t like it. They want me to conform, be a member of the group, refuse to ruffle feathers.

But I can’t.

Whenever I try, it’s phony. I can’t ass slap and pretend we’re all bros together. I was born different. The secret is, I’m not the only one.

I am just a simple man, trying to be free

And it’s so damn hard. Because when you go your own way, it’s harder to make money, the press is riddled with the stories of entrepreneurs, they don’t focus on the losers, and there are tons more of those.

I know.

Freedom is the only thing means a damn to me

I’m not talking about that right wing horseshit, where they talk about freedom but want to tell us who to date, how to live, inject themselves into our bedrooms and minds. That’s the opposite of freedom, that’s close-mindedness.

I want to be free to think unpopular thoughts, without being shouted down by jerks who believe if their voice is loud enough, they win.

They call these people bullies.

Which is why I spend so much time alone.

When I listen to Bad Company I feel like I’ve got a best friend riding shotgun.

The band has been almost completely forgotten, "Simple Man" is better than the rest of the album it comes from, but the second record is as solid as can be and the first is a classic.

And that’s not all.

"A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy"
The Kinks

What kind of crazy, fucked up world do we live in where the Bad Company track with an almost identical title is better known than this classic?

One in which radio is calcified and plays the same damn cuts over and over again.

Eventually, the Kinks got on the radio again.

But none of those cuts were as good as this one.

There’s a guy in my block, he lives for rock
He plays records day and night
And when he feels down, he puts some rock ‘n’ roll on
And it makes him feel alright
And when he feels the world is closing in
He turns his stereo way up high

If this ain’t you, stop reading right now, you and me have nothing in common. This is the essence of the rock and roll experience. The one the baby boomers lived, before their progeny believed being a member of the group was better than having an individual identity.

Dan is a fan and he lives for our music
It’s the only thing that gets him by
He’s watched us grow and he’s seen all our shows
He’s seen us low and he’s seen us high

This is what all the acts have wrong. They’re playing for the money, for the corporation, despite paying lip service, the fans come last. Otherwise, why would ticket prices be so high, why would they keep bitching they’re being ripped off?

This music is what gets us by. We believe in you.

And there’s nothing more an individual can give you.

I’ve spent my entire life living in a rock and roll fantasy.

And it hasn’t been easy.

But when it’s right, it’s fantastic!

And it’s the music that’s gotten me through.

"Hungry Eyes"
Eric Carmen

One of these days I’m gonna do a whole playlist on Eric Carmen’s "Boats Against The Current", an overlooked masterpiece. And I truly believe that, just listen to "Runaway".

But despite a promising start to his solo career, it stalled.

And then, just when we’d about given up hope, came this.

Every weekend we’re subjected to the hype for overblown high concept productions. But it’s the little movies that grab hold of us, that won’t let us go.

Like "Dirty Dancing".

I wouldn’t go to see it in the theatre. But when we rented a videotape my ex-wife watched it three times before the twenty four hours expired and we had to return it.

And I still remember it. The look in Baby’s face, all the hope, all the desire.

And she had the time of her life by ultimately being herself.

Alas, that was the character, the real person, Jennifer Grey, got a nose job and was instantly forgotten. Accept your imperfections, they’re what make you unique and lovable.

"1-2-3"
Len Barry

In the modern era, a record like this would have no chance, it would be trumped by the beat-infused mono-sound of the usual suspects. But Len Barry wasn’t kept down by the Beatles, Top Forty radio truly played the best tracks, and if you’re a boomer, you know every note of this record, an everything but the kitchen sink production with memorable changes and a just shy of a scream vocal.

It’s easy.

Like taking candy, from a baby!

"So Little Time To Fly"
Spirit

This is so hypnotic without being dated psychedelic crap you’ll be wowed if you’ve never heard it and if you know it you’re smiling right now.

Spirit had a couple of hits, but they were much more than that.

The band wrote the riff for "Stairway To Heaven", yup, Jimmy Page lifted it. They’ve been underrated and unjustly forgotten.

In a perfect world, there’d be a Spirit reunion at Coachella and the desert wind would be infused with thinking man’s rock that speaks as much to the genitals as the mind.

Alas, Randy California is deceased, but this record is positively ALIVE!

"Rose In The Garden"
Karla Bonoff

There’s a rose in the garden
It will bloom if you’re sure
That you pay close attention
But leave it room

That’s the dilemma. How do you become close without suffocating the other person.

You’ve been alone for so long. Once you find someone, you can’t help but latch on, staying close, being fulfilled. But they make movies about this. You think it’s reciprocal. But it’s not.

I’m not telling any lies now
I need you
You know how
I think I can see how to let you grow
I’ve got to let you go

Honesty. It’s the best policy, especially in relationships.

Can you lay it all on the line without making the other person feel controlled?

It’s a dilemma.

You’ve been together so long that you see your soul in her or him. You can’t see living your life without them.

But sometimes you have to.

Spotify link

Previous Rhinofy playlists

Feel Like A Rock Star (Duet With Tim McGraw)

I thought they called it COUNTRY music.

If Charlie Rich cut "The Most Beautiful Girl " he wouldn’t be able to get any airplay, because suddenly country is rock. Only it’s a watered-down, wimpy, non-threatening take on the corporate rock of the seventies. As for Hank Williams or George Jones…does anybody under the age of thirty really know who they are?

Artists lead, they don’t follow. They’re not beholden to their audience, IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND!

Ever hear a little ditty by the name of "Strawberry Fields Forever"? Not only did it sound unlike anything the Beatles had ever cut previously, it was different from absolutely everything on the radio. So what did the radio do? PLAY IT! And the audience embraced it. Because the Beatles weren’t sniveling idiots asking for likes on Facebook, doing it all for the fans so they could keep up their resort island lifestyle. No, John Lennon was honest, he said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus AND THEY WERE!

But in today’s country if you don’t kiss the ring of the Evangelicals, if you don’t embrace SUVs and a passel of kids you’re not only an outlaw, but a heathen.

When did music become so safe?

As for rock… Top Forty radio refuses to play it and what’s on the rock stations is a parody of itself. Longhaired guys repeating the riffs of generations past, trying to appear dangerous when wimpy Sean Parker is more of a threat.

But it’s a reflection of our whole country. Ivy League graduates want to become bankers, everybody’s trying to acquire a safety net while depriving their brethren of same. And the only innovation is in tech, where there’s a plethora of new cool products and if you don’t innovate, you die.

Kenny Chesney is a Commodore 64. Or a Radio Shack TRS-80. Something impressive in its day but now almost completely forgotten.

Yes, despite all the hype, Kenny’s last stadium tour didn’t sell out, they gave away a ton of tickets. As for Tim McGraw…his career is as challenged as that of his wife, he’s on the verge of being a has-been, that’s why he and Kenny are going out together, they’re scared of doing it alone.

And they listen to the accountants and the lawyers and the program directors, to everyone but themselves.

Wait a minute, wasn’t being a rock star about doing it YOUR WAY? Doing something dangerous, taking a risk, wowing the public instead of celebrating their passive lives?

That’s how screwed up music is, it celebrates the audience’s lifestyle!

The lemmings who go to Kenny Chesney’s shows are not rock stars, believe me. Instead of thinking for themselves they’re beholden to Fox News and money-grubbing preachers.

Oh, get your knickers in a twist. Excoriate me for telling the truth.

That’s the problem in America, no one will speak the truth.

And the truth is modern country music is not. Neither modern nor country. And it’s being held hostage by a corporate, right wing hierarchy that truly abhors rock stars.

Thank god it’s a backwater. It means nothing outside the U.S. and I bet most of you reading this have never heard this lowest common denominator track.

But you should check it out. But only on an empty stomach. Otherwise you’ll toss your cookies.

Kenny! What happened to the man who cut "On The Coast Of Somewhere Beautiful" and "I Go Back"? Maybe instead of trying to placate stadiums you should go play clubs and get your groove back.

"The Voice" has not broken a single act worldwide. Despite the onslaught of publicity, the only people who have benefited are the judges. You see the contestants are just like the show, they’re me-too. And we haven’t had an "American Idol" star since… Well, Kelly Clarkson is a worldwide star, Carrie Underwood made it in country and means nothing outside the U.S. and Daughtry has faded and if you think that guy Scotty means something, you probably believe country stars write and produce their own records.

In other words, conventional wisdom is wrong. You’re railing against TV reality shows and they’re meaningless.

But it’s not only television that’s me-too, it’s record labels, it’s the whole damn business. People keep doing it the way everybody else is doing it, not expecting a different result so much as being desirous of getting the few conventional scraps left in this business, radio airplay and record sales…in an era where electronic music is burgeoning and recorded music sales are irrelevant.

"Q: Hyundai has pushed the envelope in its car designs, and other companies are just now catching up with the Elantra and Sonata. How did you pull that off?

A: It just takes courage and a willingness to take risks. So with Sonata, the conventional orthodoxy in the industry was midsize cars should be styled conservatively. This is typical market research talking.

Q: Why would you take a risk on design when it was conventional wisdom not to?

A: Products starting with the ’05 Tucson and the ’06 Sonata were designed in a safe and conservative manner. It didn’t move the needle in terms of sales. You go through that and you finally see the pattern. You can’t just accept safe."

That’s John Krafcik speaking, the CEO of Hyundai Motor America.

Hyundais used to be a joke. Jay Leno said you could double a Hyundai’s value by filling it up with gas. Now Hyundai sales are burgeoning, they’re the most feared major car company.

It’s kind of like BMW. A perennial also-ran to Mercedes-Benz, BMW hired Chris Bangle, revolutionized design, conservatives were in an uproar but now BMW is the dominant luxury car company. It took a risk.

Are you taking a risk?

Mainstream music is so long in the tooth, it’s a wonder it hasn’t gone to the government for a handout. Wait, IT HAS! The content industries are lobbying all over the world for three strike rules, other ways to constrict the public. Once upon a time didn’t music LEAD the public?

That’s why I’m so excited by the electronic scene. They’re making it up as they go. And all the old players are looking through twentieth century lenses, employing metrics that don’t apply.

If you have a hot product, people want it.

But it’s got to be different, it’s got to challenge conventional wisdom, it’s got to appeal to people’s hearts more than their pocket books.

Otherwise how to explain Apple’s huge success in China? It’s not like the iPhone is cheap over there. We’ve been hearing about that market forever, but only Apple and a few car companies have cracked it. Apple’s success was due to excellence. Think about it, what musical act do we want to export to China, which one will wow them? None of the usual suspects, that’s for sure.

And nobody wants to go over there, to try and set a fire. Nobody wants to learn about the new ways, nobody wants to explore, they just want to do it the same old way to dwindling returns.

Music is a second-class citizen because it stopped innovating. It’s no different from GM. Similar to Kodak. If you keep on doing the same thing you end up in the dustbin, the public ignores you and moves on.

Music is first and foremost about innovation. Taking risks, creating something new that strikes people’s hearts. And now it’s easier than ever, with all the tools at the fingertips of the proletariat. But the proletariat is in most cases dumb. Just complaining that it’s been locked out of the major leagues. It’s like a young fighter complaining about corruption in boxing when all the action’s in the UFC.

Yup, the UFC killed boxing. By breaking all the rules, by being different, by appealing to the audience.

If you think music appeals to its audience, I’m laughing.

Here you’ve got an entire industry with contempt for its audience. Music is overpriced and producers can’t stop railing about theft. Concert tickets are stratospheric and you can’t get a good one. Do you really think going down this road is going to pay dividends?

In Person: Hyundai’s Krafcik steered it from joke to contender

The media talked about Dick Clark.

The people talked about Levon Helm.

He didn’t do it to become famous, certainly not rich. His parents didn’t buy him the best equipment available, they didn’t dun everybody they came in contact with, saying how great a player he was and he deserved to make it, no, Levon Helm followed his muse, the music, to the point his death impacted a spectrum of people from the barely-pubescent to the nearly-deceased, that’s how good he was.

There’s no direct career path in music. It’s not like becoming a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer. It’s not about dotting i’s and crossing t’s, it’s not about going through the motions, it’s about living on your wits, making your own opportunities after you’ve developed the skills. As to whether you hit a dead end or become a superstar, the outcome is not entirely in your hands. But to succeed you’ve got to get in the game. You can’t become a doctor if you don’t spend all your time being an intern and a resident and you can’t become a famous musician unless you’ve got no other interests.

History tells us Levon Helm played with Ronnie Hawkins, as a member of the Hawks.

What it doesn’t tell those who didn’t live through that period was that Ronnie Hawkins meant little in the U.S. But it was while backing up Ronnie that Levon encountered the rest of what ultimately became the Band.

There’s that opportunity thing again. You make your own luck. You can’t be sitting at home, dreaming of hooking up with a songwriter as good as Robbie Robertson, you’ve got to be in the mix, life is a game of chance.

And that’s what led the Band from the wilderness to backing up Bob Dylan.

Think about this, you’re the drummer in a five-piece band that can’t cut a hit on your own and you end up supporting someone who made his hits without you, and has a long string of them.

But here’s where opportunity hit again.

Because Bob Dylan was managed by Albert Grossman. In an era where your manager was everything. Possibly, it still is. Albert Grossman jump-started Dylan’s career with covers by his client Peter, Paul & Mary, he used his power to get the Band a deal with Capitol Records, an almost moribund label in an era where Warner Brothers was king.

But then the Band delivered "Big Pink".

There were no singles. "The Weight" didn’t burn up the chart. But in a time where people devoted themselves to albums, "Big Pink" paid dividends. In an era before MTV, it didn’t matter how you looked, just how you played.

And boy could these guys play.

It was an earthy sound. Almost rural. The Band’s music hearkened back to the past, but there was almost nothing like it in 1968. If you’re great, being unique is an asset.

Then came "The Band".

I’ll tell you my favorite track from that album is the last, "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)". My friend Brad dropped the needle on it one Sunday night on the bottom floor of his parents’ split level and I was closed immediately. It’s like I was hearing a voice from the nineteenth century, and the supporting instruments helped tell the story.

"King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" was sung by Richard Manuel. My favorite unknown Band song, "Twilight", was sung by Rick Danko. Maybe if they died in the heyday of the Internet, their passings would echo as much as that of Levon’s. You see that’s what the Band was, a band. Every player an integral element. We loved Levon, but we loved the group even more.

But it was on that second album that Levon truly shined.

My favorite?

"Rag Mama Rag"!

That string intro, so infectious!

And Levon singing like he’s half-drunk, having the time of his life.

Hail stones beatin’ on the roof
The bourbon is a hundred proof
It’s you and me and the telephone
Our destiny is quite well known
We don’t need to sit and brag
All we gotta do is
Rag mama rag, mama rag

This bridge puts the track over the top. It all sounds like so much FUN! The legacy of the Band is seriousness, but there was joy too. That’s what being a musician is all about, the fun, the experiences, when done right it makes you richer than anybody on Wall Street.

And of course Levon sang the Band’s breakthrough one and only hit, "Up On Cripple Creek" and the song that Joan Baez ultimately brought to mainstream public consciousness, "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", but he also sang "Jemima Surrender", which I love even more.

The Band were now stars.

And so was their drummer. In an era where the guy behind the kit, powering the band, almost never was. He didn’t have a classically trained voice, it wasn’t purty, it couldn’t win a TV singing contest, but it could convey the human condition seemingly better than anybody’s in rock.

And "The Band" was the peak.

But "Stage Fright" was not that much of a denouement.

And although Levon didn’t dominate as much as he had previously, he sang co-lead on "The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show". And that’s what a touring band is, a medicine show, selling you what you need via smoke and mirrors, a well-honed act.

And of course, there was the live album, "Rock Of Ages", but the Band could never quite recapture the magic. It was disappointing. But they burned so brightly, maybe they burned themselves out.

And then Robbie broke up the band.

Levon acted.

The band reformed.

He got cancer.

He played again, creating a medicine show of his own.

And then he expired.

Whew, THAT’S A LIFE!

Full of happiness, anger, joy and regret. That’s what happens when you play…sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you never want to give up the game.

It’s astounding that Robbie and Levon connected at the end. Usually bitterness triumphs in rock and roll.

Then again, it’s all about the music.

And despite Levon moving on, those great records he was a part of still remain. Push play and you’ll find he’s still fully alive.

Who knew he was going to be immortal?

Certainly not Levon himself.

You can’t see the end from the beginning.

But if you just start, you have the possibility of going on an amazing journey.

And in this case, we were along for the magic ride.

We miss you already Levon.